Joseph P. Moore

The Hartford Courant

The Rev. Joseph P. Moore was one of the priests who disappeared from his parish in 1997 without explanation. The diocese later admitted Moore had been removed for sexual misconduct -- behavior that dated to the 1970s.

At that time, Moore trained altar boys at the Church of the Assumption in Westport. According to an affidavit released Tuesday, one of the boys said he and another youth were sexually assaulted by Moore during a trip to Block Island, R.I., in the summer of either 1978 or 1979.

Moore insisted that the boys sleep in separate bedrooms, according to the affidavit. One of the boys said Moore "returned repeatedly" to his room, telling him to take off his clothes. The other boy said he was assaulted as well.

The boys said they "jumped out of a bedroom window to escape Father Moore's sexual advances" and fled to a neighboring home, where they found shelter for the night and called their parents.

The fathers of the two boys later met with and complained to Monsignor Andrew Cusack. Cusack said Moore "had been evaluated" and it was determined he was "not a homosexual," according to an affidavit prepared later by one of the boys.

The boys did not receive counseling from the diocese, the affidavit states.